Peppered with Crazy

I had a minor triumph today.  For several weeks I have been trying to figure out how to reuse my store bought pepper grinder.  This oughtn't be an issue, I agree, but McCormick has designed their grinders as one-use going so far as to type on the label, "do not reuse".  Being told what to do by McCormick's (and that is to buy something I already own) has for some reason possessed me and insulted my sporadic thriftiness because ever since, when reminded of pepper by a recipe or some such, I have tried to coax the top off the grinder in a rebellious attempt to flout McCormicks.  This is much more difficult than it should be because when McCormick says one time use, they do their damnedest to make sure it is one use.  Allow me to paint the picture of increasing frustration as we have whole pepper in one bottle and a steadily decreasing supply of pepper imprisoned in a bossy and wasteful One-Time-Only grinder.  Anyway, the pressure was on this morning, as I had a bison brisket to get together and the grindable pepper had finally met its bitter end.  Clearly you cannot make a brisket without pepper.  After several minutes of various attempts, the use of kitchen scissors, leverage, and a bruised tummy (don't ask...OK fine, I managed to pinch myself with the scissor handles.  I told you not to ask) I was able to pry off the top of the grinder and refill with the whole pepper, thus saving my brisket from a pepperless existence.  I told you it was a minor triumph.

In conclusion, while a creative career from home may be fine still, corporate work as a technical writer from the home seems to be melting my brain like plastic-ware accidentally left on the stove.